1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to wireless communications, and, more particularly, to management of wireless communications between Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) access nodes and EV-DO access terminals.
2. Description of Related Art
Many people use mobile stations, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), to communicate with cellular wireless networks. These mobile stations and networks typically communicate with each other over a radio frequency (RF) air interface according to a wireless communication protocol such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), perhaps in conformance with one or more industry specifications such as IS-95 and IS-2000. Wireless networks that operate according to these specifications are often referred to as “1xRTT networks” (or “1x networks” for short), which stands for “Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology.” These networks typically provide communication services such as voice, Short Message Service (SMS) messaging, and packet-data communication.
Recently, service providers have introduced mobile stations and wireless networks that communicate using a protocol known as EV-DO, which stands for “Evolution Data Optimized.” EV-DO networks, operating in conformance with industry specification IS-856, provide high rate packet-data service (including Voice over IP (VoIP) service) to mobile stations using a combination of time-division multiplexing (TDM) on the forward link (from the network to mobile stations) and CDMA technology on the reverse link (from mobile stations to the network). Furthermore, some mobile stations, known as hybrid mobile stations or hybrid access terminals, can communicate with both 1x networks and EV-DO networks.
In the EV-DO context, a mobile station is typically referred to as an access terminal, while the network entity with which the access terminal communicates over the air interface is known as an access node. The access node typically includes a device known as a radio network controller (RNC), which is similar to a base station controller (BSC) in 1x networks. The access node also includes one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs) or “Node-Bs,” each of which includes one or more antennas that radiate to define respective wireless coverage areas. Among other functions, the RNC controls one or more BTSs, and acts as a conduit between the BTSs and an entity known as a packet data serving node (PDSN), which provides access to a packet-data network. Thus, when positioned in one of these wireless coverage areas, an access terminal may communicate over the packet-data network via the access node and the PDSN.
To initiate connectivity, when powered on in a coverage area of an access node, an access terminal may send what is known as a Universal Access Terminal Identifier (UATI) request to the access node. The access node may respond by granting a UATI to the access terminal in a message known as a UATI response. This UATI response typically contains the granted UATI, which then serves to identify the access terminal to the access node for some period of time.
After acquiring a UATI, the access terminal will typically communicate with the access node over the air interface to set up what is referred to as a “session.” Essentially, an access terminal that has a session with an access node can engage in packet-data communication over the packet-data network to which the access node and the PDSN provide access. Conversely, an access terminal that does not have a session with an access node can not engage in packet-data communication over the packet-data network.
As part of setting up the session, the access terminal sends a connection request to the access node, requesting an air-interface connection. The access node will responsively work to establish the air-interface connection with the access terminal, which involves the access node instructing the access terminal to communicate with the access node over what is known as a traffic channel. This traffic channel takes the form of particular timeslots on the forward link, during which the access node sends data to the access terminal, and a particular CDMA channel on the reverse link, over which the access terminal sends data to the access node.
In addition to establishing the connection with the access terminal, the access node takes a number of other actions, one of which is to validate that the access terminal is authorized to engage in communication via the access node. Another such action is to set up a radio-packet connection between the access node and the PDSN for the access terminal. The access node also facilitates establishment of a data link (e.g., a point-to-point protocol (PPP) connection) between the access terminal and the PDSN, and perhaps assignment (e.g., by the PDSN or by a Mobile-IP home agent) of an IP address to the access terminal.
Once those steps (and perhaps others) are complete, the access terminal has a session with the access node, and can therefore communicate over the packet-data network via the access node and the PDSN. Typically, the air-interface connection is then torn down, freeing up those radio resources for other access terminals. Both the network and the access terminal maintain data pertaining to the rest of what was established, however, including the IP address, radio-packet connection, and data link. This transition from having a traffic channel to not having one is referred to as the access terminal going from active to dormant.
Thereafter, if the access terminal wants to initiate packet-data communication, it sends another connection request to the access node, which will again assign a traffic channel to the access terminal. If the access node receives data addressed to the access terminal, the access node would typically page the access terminal, and assign it a traffic channel. The access terminal can then engage in packet-data communication over the packet-data network, using the newly-assigned traffic channel, as well as the previously-established IP address, radio-packet connection, and data link.
Note that an access node may, in a wireless coverage area such as a cell or sector, provide service on one or more carrier frequencies (“carriers”). When service is provided on only one carrier, the access terminal will, by default, communicate over a traffic channel on that carrier. When service is provided on more than one carrier, the access node will select one of those carriers on which to assign a traffic channel to the access terminal. In general, each carrier may occupy a 1.25-MHz-wide band of the RF spectrum. Furthermore, a carrier may actually be a pair of 1.25-MHz-wide bands, in systems that use a frequency-division-duplex (FDD) approach, where access terminals receive on one frequency, and transmit on another.
In addition to sending user traffic to access terminals over traffic channels, access nodes also transmit control information to access terminals over a control channel, which, on a given carrier in a given sector, takes the form of certain timeslots on the forward link. In fact, certain timeslots on the forward link are reserved for what is known as a data channel, which includes traffic channels and the control channel. Thus, the data channel can transmit user traffic or control-channel information. Note that a traffic channel carries user traffic to a single access terminal, while the control channel carries both access-terminal-directed messages and broadcast messages. Note also that a timeslot during which user traffic or control-channel information is transmitted (i.e. a timeslot that includes the data channel) is referred to as active, while a timeslot during which no user traffic or control-channel information is transmitted (i.e. a timeslot that effectively does not include the data channel) is referred to as idle.